Transcript for:
Insights from Rabbi Manis Friedman

mind blown from this next episode what what was  it like sitting down with Rabbi Manis Friedman   Rabbi Manus Friedman if you don't know him he's  youtube's most popular rabbi he has over 187 000   subscribers some of his videos have millions of  views it was a phenomenal sit down we discussed   what is it about money that makes the world go  round what advice would he give to someone who's   extremely wealthy what advice would he give to  someone who has no money where do you go after you   die i mean wow we're getting like uh spiritual  over here it was phenomenal it's crazy how   spiritual money is but i was blown away without  exaggeration i could see this as being one of our   most viewed videos and i'm excited to see what the  audience thinks can't wait to listen take a look being a jew awesome managing personal finances  not so awesome welcome to kosher money   welcome Rabbi Manis Friedman this is a real  treat for us it's a little bit uh wild to see you   in in the flesh because i've consumed so many of  your videos and you're usually behind the screen   so the fact that you walked in here with  the glowing white beard it feels like uh   almost uh out of uh out of real life but welcome  it's good to have you so if you type into google   the world revolves around the  first result that comes up is money   yep that's right there the world revolves around  money i don't know if necessarily it's true but   what is it about money that  seemingly makes the world go round if you want to get to the heart of it what is the need for money only the  human being has this crazy lifestyle   the animal goes outside looks  around to find something to eat   no but we have to go through schooling training  apprenticeship and finally we got to get a job and   then make some money and then you can sit down  to a meal and and not starve like why is that it seems cruel and unusual punishment so we have to think a little bit beyond and past   just the money because it really is  a mystery why is it set up this way you know we have you would  think more noble things to do   so our food should be available more easily  so that we can be free to do noble things   and yet we have to spend most of our lives  just preparing for the job that will make us   the money that will buy us the food that will  keep us from starving and that's it's crazy so the reason money makes the world go  round is because that's our survival but the question is why why such a crazy  system and as long as we're talking about   it what is this craziness we work six  days a week so we can rest on one day that's top heavy and i was like we  should work one day so we can rest in six   there's these movements across the  world now where fourth day yeah yeah because it should be that way ideally so here's the precautionary um warning  you can get a lot of comfort from money   your life is easier more comfortable  broader have a bigger vision   but it is not meant to produce happiness  and that's where the big mistake is yes   money will give you comfort it will not give you  happiness because it won't give you satisfaction feels good to be able to make money you come  in with a big wad you know you feel great   it's not happiness so if you depend on the money for  happiness you're headed for a depression   and if not you then your kids say so what so  what so we have money so we're rich you know   it doesn't make for a happiness life  but the reason we have to do all this   and the reason we have such a  complicated path to a sandwich is because it's the only way that God  can get us to interact with each other   to meet people we otherwise not meet to  get us to come out of our caves and feel   mutually dependent on each other in other words  it creates a more human existence if you had your   food outside you know just climb a tree and eat  we wouldn't be human the way we're meant to be   so instead of thinking of how much money am i  making how much money who are you meeting who are   you dealing with where is this taking you what are  you exposed to and what good can come from that   the people you're dealing with your buyers your  sellers your customers your employer is there   something that you're supposed to learn or give  or receive or some kind of human interaction that   makes the world a better place if Adam and Eve  hadn't eaten the apple would this idea of money   had existed and if not how else would we  have interacted so if you read if you read it   superficially it sounds like the curse the curse  for eating from the tree of knowledge was that by   the sweat of your brow you're going to make bread  that means go to work in simple language get a job   so it sounds like a curse and it can be  a curse but really it's a hidden blessing   it's like saying you can't  just be yourself anymore   now you have to interact with other people  you'll give you'll take you'll receive   you'll help each other in some way but no more  hermit kind of life in the garden of eden just   picking things off a tree there's a verse in  Mishlei (The Book of Proverbs) "Tzedakah Tatzil   Mimaves" that charity will save the donor or can  save the donor's life what is it about charity   that is so powerful so much so that a dinner a  donor can be saved from potential harm or death with a little stretch of the imagination  giving charity means giving away your life i mean imagine you have only one dollar left   and you give it away well what are you  giving away your life your survival so   you in in return you deserve to receive  life so if you give life you get life   if it's not always that dramatic whereas  your last dollar but every dollar could   be your last dollar and what do you invest in  making this dollar pretty much your whole life you got to wake up you got to go you got to  work you got to train you got to look it's your   whole life although we should make a distinction  there's a difference between existing and living   huge difference existence means you take up  space literally that's the scientific definition   how does this exist it takes up space what does it mean to take up space can't  put another microphone in the same spot so for human beings to exist means i take up space  which means you can't sit in my seat it's mine   i was here first we can't share the same space  if you take it to an extreme Cain and Abel   Kayin (Cain) and Hevel (Abel) could not  share the same space they had the whole world   and they couldn't share it they must have had huge egos everything was huge back then so existence means to take up space which means  intolerant of anything invading your space   in addition to that in order to exist  you have to have certain resources you   need food you need drink you need shelter  you need warmth you need cooling you need   all sorts of things just to survive   just to exist so if you have everything you need  for your existence what have you accomplished nothing no one is invading your space and tomorrow  you can do it all over again you'll eat you'll   drink so really it's kind of depressing  and that's what we call existential angst   it it hurts to exist and that's why we're  always asking what is the purpose why am i here   what's your problem you don't want to be here  i want to be here but i can't figure out why   like what for so that i can not let  you into my house because it's my house   and then give me food give me  drink give me this give me that   it's embarrassing and a little depressing if i  take my existence more seriously i worry about   it i stay up at night worrying about my space  and my i'm going to get seriously depressed but then there's also life life means  what effect does your existence make   on the world around you your being here  your being your existence has an effect that's what justifies your existing so life means what are you contributing  so the fundamental difference is   existence is demanding needy life is giving  needed before we get to making a living having   money getting rich not getting rich one thing has  to be clear we can't function as needy creatures   we have to see ourselves as needed  creatures changes everything that alone like the depression is gone who who needs us is it  and and i've heard talks from you in the past   and i would like to get into that a little bit  but who needs us is it other humans that need us   does God need us what what how do you look  at needed yes both some would say or push   back and and say God doesn't need us god  has everything well let's put it this way   God's plan needs us the plan can't  work without us god wants this world   to become a godly place well the only  way that can happen is if we do it because if he does it then it's not this world  then then it's heaven he wants earth to become   godly meaning by its own limited f you know  fallible clumsy way to somehow get to be godly   so yeah it depends it depends on us completely  you touched on the idea of making a lot of money   some people struggle to make ends  meet let's talk about those two   extremes if there are those listening that  have come into a lot of money whether through   inheritance or through their hard work or not  hard work they're sitting on a pile of cash   what advice would you give to people in  the in that state yeah there are people   who win the lottery and their life is ruined  [Music] it's it's a serious common event um being wealthy or being poor has only one significant consequence  you're gonna meet different people   if you're rich you meet a certain kind of people  if you're poor you meet a different kind of people   so your your wealth or your poverty  takes you where you can do the most good   in god's plan so if you're poor it's  because you need to deal with people   that that live in that circle in that universe  if you're rich it's only because you need to be   affecting people who are in in that stratosphere  so always look beyond the dollar you know like   follow the money [Music] no follow where the money  takes you notice what's going on in your life   and you know you went to make money but you end  up accomplishing something much more significant   you know somebody you're dealing with they don't  look so happy today and you ask them what's the   matter and they've got a serious problem and  you suggest something you help them or you   just encourage them and put them in a better frame  of mind you could have saved the life just there does that mean to say that those who  are poor and the people that meet that   this is their lot in life and their for them to  strive to get out of that is not something that   they should be focusing on meaning accept their  lot we talk about azure usher has because someone   who's happy is someone who's um content or who's  rich someone who is content with their lot is   that a life sentence almost is that saying  basically hey don't strive for something   more because real richness is you have it it's  there already or no someone can actually do their   efforts and and their hashtag list  to strive for something higher   you always strive for higher  otherwise you'll never be rich   so that statement from the sages who is  rich the one who is content with his lot   never going to happen if you're  content you don't get rich you sit home among the rich people who is   handling it and who is not handling it in other  words not who is rich who knows how to be rich so it's not bait and switch you want to know  who's rich somebody who doesn't care if he's   rich no no don't do that to me should have  said who's happy a person who doesn't care   okay but don't tell me he's rich and then  tell me he's happy with being poor [Music]   not honest so we're talking about a person who  is rich seriously rich but there are those whose   wealth make their life more livable and there  are those whose wealth make their life miserable   so what it's saying is who is wealthy  in other words who is a healthy wealthy   person who's handling their wealth well the  one who is content with their with their life   not with their money if you're content with  your money you're not going to make any more that is not the nature of wealthy people so people a person gets rich they say  all of a sudden you win the lottery   or you inherit a lot of money and all of a  sudden your wife is not good enough for you   and your children are annoying and your car is too  old-fashioned and your house is too small and even   even your congregation and your community is not  for you your whole life has to be exchanged why   because you have money that money  is killing you it's destroying you so people who inherit a lot of money  they they need a little counseling   some cautionary notes because it doesn't it doesn't the suddenness of it you know  they don't they don't have time   to digest it and to work it out and  they don't grow into it which is   also they didn't work for it that that  that is deadly undeserved unearned it's a gift but it can be a poison which is why an honest day's work is what brings  happiness not the money that comes from it   so if you make more money than you feel you  deserve you're going to be thrilled but you're   going to be miserable it doesn't give the  contentment that life is supposed to give   so the great people in the past the people we  always looked up to as role models and so on   any money that came to them undeserved  they gave it away immediately   this is not really mine because i didn't earn it so if they find money give it away they want to live off what  they earned and deserved   we had a guest here uh David Bashevkin  who spoke about "Gvir (wealth) Culture"   where a lot of people in orthodox jewish  circles and it's not even just an orthodox jewry   look up to the wealthy and their opinions  matter when it comes to the community   you're rich they think you really know right is  is that is that it's a problem in the sense that   we respect them for their wealth but then we also  suddenly value their opinion if they were to lose   a lot of their wealth i don't know  if we would value their opinion   um how do we how do we tackle that Gvir culture   i think if we look more closely people are not  jealous of their money they're jealous of their   confidence because rich people are confident come  across and they're jealous of their happiness if i could be as happy without the money i would  be perfectly okay with that if i could have the   confidence of a rich person without being  rich i wouldn't mind so it's not the money   that we're jealous of and that we're admiring  you admire somebody who speaks with confidence   even even if they shouldn't because they  don't know what they're talking about   but you know the same hap same thing happens  when you publish a book if you're an author   then you are an expert on every subject that  has nothing to do with your book but oh he   wrote a book well he knows everything which is so  again it's it's not the book it's not the money it's the confidence we can all  use a little more confidence   well said let's go to the opposite side we  were talking about an abundance of wealth   for those not making ends meet and watching  this video it's it's a real struggle   right they they're receiving letters in the mail  from credit card companies they have debt what   what do you tell someone like that who knocks on  your door not looking for a check but for advice that is dangerous the reason people are not making a living you  know can be so many different things and if it   if you if you focus on the wrong thing you're  just going to make the person more miserable   why can't you get a job let's not let's  not go there because you know who knows uh woody allen in the beginning of his career  had a a record an actual album of comedy   and he has this routine about  how he was in a car accident   and he had a near-death experience he was  dying and his life flashed before his eyes   and he saw his father zeke coming in from the  fields with the cows and his sister annabelle   was bringing the eggs in from the chicken coop  and wait wait i'm a jewish boy from brooklyn   the wrong life is flashing before my  eyes and i got two minutes to live   the wrong life cannot flash before your eyes it  does not happen so the poor man who looks at the   rich man and says isn't that supposed to be my  life what am i doing here i'm supposed to be no your life is never wrong for  you because if it's your life   well first of all it's the only one you have  so don't knock it but if it's your life live it   it's yours it's not like my life took  a wrong turn and all of a sudden i'm   not where i'm supposed to be you're exactly  where you're supposed to be so it's not like   it's not like the rich man took your life away  stepped into your shoes and pushed you out no   he's got his life you got yours again look  past the dollars what does your life consist of   which people do you interact  with what issues do you handle   they're different this is where you belong  if you were rich god wouldn't need you   so it's not going to happen that way but you can  go from one to the other rich people become poor   unfortunately and poor people become rich   that means you fulfilled your  function and purpose in this field   now you're being moved where you change careers  you change professions you meet different people   so when god decides to move you he'll move you  but never jealous of someone else's life why the cost of jewish living and we ran through the  numbers is extremely high in comparison to the   cost of an american non-jewish family  where if you live in the tri-state area   in order to just make it without any lavish  vacations and things of that nature you need   to be in the top three to five percent of income  earners in america assuming you're paying full   tuition and um you're keeping kosher and the  cost of living is admittedly a lot higher how do   how do we look at that and and for those that  and we always say it's a beautiful living but   it's it can feel strenuous to some how should  people look at that specifically orthodox jews the biggest challenge the most noble challenge   is the idea that he who gave  life will also give meals if he gives you life he's going to give  you what to eat relax you're not starving   you're not dying you're not going anywhere  so the stress is a little self-inflicted it's really not in our control at  all and when you get right down to it being smart does not guarantee wealth i mean  look at who's real look at who's wealthy   they didn't get there by being smart and look at  all the people who are poor who are brilliant and   they tried it all they did exactly the same  thing the rich guy did and they did it better   and nothing came from it and the other  guy didn't know what he was doing and   everything turns up roses you know  so it's obviously out of our control   on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) every  year god decides how much money you're going   to make that year it's written in stone  there's nothing you can do to change it so worrying is certainly not going to help staying  up all night putting in extra hours it's not going   to help it's not going to make a difference it's  it's deceiving i mean you you work on saturday   you come home with a couple of thousand dollars of  profit what do you mean i didn't i made more money   by working on shabbos (Shabbat/the Sabbath) that's  not called making money if next day you get sued   for ten thousand dollars and there goes all your  money down the drain right so making money doesn't   mean it's in the cash register the question  is where does it go from the cash register   to doctors bill's god forbid to lawsuits to losses so in the end by the end of the year you will have  exactly the amount of money that was decreed on   rosh hashanah so there are those that say  if that's the case where it's all decreed   on the jewish new year why put in the hashtag  listen effort during the year very good question basically what we're saying is making a living  is a miracle it's a it's it's an act of god   it's divine intervention but we're not supposed to rely on miracles  we have to live a earthy life and allow the   miracles but we can't live on miracles if you're  not feeling well you have to go to a doctor   to say god you know god will help me you know  the story with the boat and the car and the   share the story let's say some guy was  caught in a flood and a truck came by   picking up people and come we'll save you he  says oh no i'm a believer god will save me   so the truck leaves and the water rises and a  boat comes by a canoe he said come on i'll save   you don't worry about me god will say now he's up  on the roof of his house and uh a helicopter comes   by ready to pick him up and he says don't worry  about it anyway he drowns so he comes to heaven   and he says to god hey i trusted you i believed in  you why didn't you help me because i didn't help   you i sent you a truck i sent you a boat i sent  you in other words god wants nature to function as   nature not to be ignored but miracles come  into nature because nature alone can't exist so if you want to be richer there is  something you have to do open a bigger store   you know you can't have a little  shop and say i want to make millions   you got to create a vessel that can hold  or contain the blessing you're looking for so the guy says i'll open a little shop in the  corner i'll come in once a week a couple of   hours and whatever god wants will happen  anyway yeah well you're not allowing it to   happen because you're not you know like on Purim  (Jewish holiday/festival) if you extend your hand   for charity there's a mitzvah (commandment) to  give call up guy doesn't stick his hand out you   expect people to force money in into your pocket  so at the very least you got to put your hand out   show that you're ready to receive so by opening  a bigger store you're saying i'm ready to take   on bigger bigger responsibility bigger bigger  income but if i don't want that i just want to be   just sit and wait for your uncle to die and  inherit his money so that's not the way god wants   it to be the joke with the boat reminds me of the  fellow who's driving around looking for a parking   spot and he says god please i need a parking  spot and he's circling 10 minutes 15 minutes 20   after 30 minutes he finds a parking space  says god no i found one forget it i'm good   um so this idea that someone has to stretch  out their hand or create a bigger shop or   a larger vessel at what point is his hand  stretched out enough at what point is his shop   large enough that he's created a vessel  and and the crux of the question is   how much effort is sufficient does one  need to be working late into the night   in order to show god that he's making as  much effort as he possibly could thereby   sacrificing other pieces in his life you know  the famous saying don't work harder work smarter   work smarter putting in more time day and night  you know no that that's not making a bigger vessel   that's just making a mess out of yourself you  open the larger store there is natural opportunity   for the blessing step the bigger store reaches  its maximum right it's and it's not enough   so open a bigger store but you don't spend more  hours trying to force more blessings into the   store you have it has reached its capacity  in the small store you were making a 100   000 a year now you're making 500 000 a year but  that's all you're going to make in this store   now you've got to open a chain of  stores if you want to be a millionaire   but you can't just keep working on  that store day and night day and night so you just keep enlarging the vessel when you're  ready so that there can be a bigger blessing would   it be wrong for someone to tell god that if  god was to make me more financially successful   i'll be able to give more charity and do more  good things with this money as he's striving   to create a larger vessel or that would be the  wrong way to look at it it's not a good idea   to make deals with god because he'll always  outsmart you don't make deals but you should   in your intention have in mind that the  more i have the more i share it's not a deal   it's not you know i'm not making conditions with  god if you make me wealthy i'll give charity   no i'm going to give whatever i have  i'm going to give 10 15 whatever   because because that's what you're  supposed to do it's not it's not a not signing a contract or anything  right so don't make pledges   we were told before you're rich don't make pledges i'm assuming given your role as a rabbi in a  community that couples and families do come to   you with their financial related questions  what would you say is the common theme of   those questions where they seek advice or  maybe have some sort of friction in their life   hardly anybody asks me for financial advice  should they be no thank you very much   but usually it's just the tip of the iceberg some friction between them that is blamed  on the money but it's never the money   one thing we know for sure if a  guy is trying to make a living he has to he has to first make sure that his wife is happy   because god is giving him money not only for  himself but for his wife and for his family   well if your family is not with you and your  wife is not with you then you're not gonna get like a guy says i'm single i just barely make  enough to live on how am i going to get married   so what you want god to give you enough money  for two when you're just you become two and god   will give you money for two become ten god will  give you money for ten but what do you want money   for ten before you even get married make any sense  you've hit on something there where there has been   um discussion from families given the cost  of say private yeshiva school tuition that   people are nervous to have more kids because  that will mean larger expenses you're saying   that's a backwards way of thinking that  is that is defeatist that's intimidation   it's giving up on life and it's giving up on life  in favor of a better existence never do that wow   we have lists and lists of why i told the  fans that the few fans that we have less than   a dozen about Rav Manus Friedman and they're  very familiar i think you now have over 187   000 subscribers on youtube not that you count um  what are what are some of the common themes of   the more popular videos that you've released  that you've seen resonate with your audience interestingly the one the one talk that gets eight million hits wow is the  one about life after death everybody i don't know why what are  we all so afraid of dying   what's going on here and it's been over  years not just corona and what you know everybody wants to know about that we'll link to   it in our show notes to ensure  that people get to see it but what is it about life after death  is it uh what happens when you die   where where do you go what do you what  do you do and you can't take your money   with you either [Music] do you see that  as people get older they become wiser   as it relates to what's important in life we  spoke about leaving a legacy and and being   needed as people get older do they realize the  importance of that or the way they are hopefully not always unfortunately but i tell you this  corona [Music] it it has brought a lot of wisdom   not only to old people to all people and this  is really i think relevant to this conversation   do we want to go back to business as usual  does anybody want to go back to work no i   hope not because the work environment has been so  toxic so inhumane we should never go back to that   the greed the competition the stress everybody's  on anti-anti-stress anti-anxiety pills   this is not a way to live this is  crazy don't want to go back to that so talk to anybody who runs a big company they have  a hundred employees just to pick a round number   every one of those employees  comes in at nine stays till five it's a waste of time ask the head of that company  if all of these people came in at nine and left at   three would you make any less money no what about  if they left at 12 would you make any less money   probably not so what are  you keeping them there for what you're doing is you're  giving them too many hours   for the amount of work they're going to do  so they get kind of sloppy you know what's a   rush i got more hours i got more time i'll do it  soon i'll do it later i'll take a break i'll go   if you had three hours of focused work you  would make as much money as you make now so what they should do is  put in the three hours take a   lunch break and then get back together to  figure out ways of making the community better you've made your money now  let's think about everybody else   you're capable people obviously  you're employed you're making   you're creative you're intelligent so why not  spend a couple of hours trying to do something   for your neighborhood for your community for your  congregation or for the world if you're that big people would come to work with  a whole different attitude   it wouldn't be this greedy grabbing rat  race who needs that it's a phenomenal idea   we had spoke about realistic ways on how we can  lower tuition costs and one of the ideas was   a large accounting firm that has the resources to  help a school manage their finances or their back   end where it wouldn't be much skin off of their  back but if they allocated x amount of hours   employees to that cause they can help a communal  organization and uh it's within the theme of   tapping into this are are you familiar with any  companies that are doing something like that or   this one company that i spoke to is doing  it in what industry real estate real estate and has it impacted their  business in a negative way no and the employees appreciate and  they see the value in giving back   yeah so going to work is not a  grind it's not a burden it's not   suddenly it's a noble thing to do and it  does bring happiness which money can't i just heard this cute i don't know how  much time do we have a few more minutes   there's this little uh scene where this guy  says to god i can't do this i can't i work i   work i run i do i have no life i have no life i'm  down to 20 bucks i have no life give me a life so god says really no life give me the 20 bucks i'll give you a life the guy says okay well well if i give you the 20  bucks i won't have any money for gas for the car   god says oh you have a car give me the twenty  dollars on the car and i'll give you a life i said oh wait if i don't have a car how am  i gonna get to work so god said oh you have   a job so give me the job and the car and  the twenty dollars i'll give you a life it's like that joke about bring me bring the cat  into the house and bring the goat into the house   and bring anyway so he says all right but if i  give you my job how am i going to pay the mortgage   so god said oh you have a house give me the  house the job the car the 20 bucks i'll give you   he said but if i give you the  house where's my family gonna live   he's oh you have a family give me the family  give me the house give me the job give me the   car under 20 bucks i'll give you a life he  says okay god says good now here's 20 bucks   here's a car here's a job here's a  house and here's a family you got a life we sometimes think like you're chasing your  life and you're running in the wrong direction   you have a life for which you're willing to go to work to support   don't forget them and then complain you  have no life this is the challenge of today   women are going to work not only because  they need another check but because women   are tired of being a one parent family because  men are not part of the family they got careers   so for a long time women put up with it thinking  yeah that's you know men supporting their families   beautiful it turns out men aren't supporting  their families their career comes first in fact   the family is like an annoyance their wife calls  the middle of the day what do you want i'm busy have no time for family i'm so  the wives realized they're alone and eventually they said look you're not  going to be part of the family neither am   i i don't want to be a one-parent family so  i'm going to work too the problem is they   both forgot that they have a life and they're so  focused on existing that it's really depressing we have now on the living lchaim network our  youtube channel tens of thousands of subscribers   that are not even jewish that appreciate the  the wisdom that our guests have been sharing what and and it's been eye-opening to non-jews who  may not have had exposure to the world of judaism in trinidad and south africa and  australia maybe even in minnesota as well if you had a message for our non-jewish community  um not necessarily on behalf of the jewish people   but something for them to know about judaism that  they have not been exposed to what what would that   be whether it be a message or something to know  about orthodox jews and and judaism and torah now we're always very proud and keep  reminding the world we gave you monotheism   that was 4 000 years ago what have we done  lately yeah that was great that was really   really great there's hardly ever you know  there's hardly any idolatry going on you know   monotheism is universally accepted  principle there's one god that's it   okay you know we can debate you know  christianity and these muslims that have a   little difference of opinion on that but but  the principle is there right there's one god what what more can we share  being a light to the nations   what what are we offering ten commandments  they got it the bible they got it now what i think the message   which everyone needs to hear this one god  that we believe in who created the whole world he has a big investment in his creation huge  investment because there was only him at the   beginning and what was wrong with that why  wasn't he perfectly content there's just him   no complaints no no demands no clutching nobody's  accusing him of being cruel why did he mess it up there must be a really strong driving  interest to make all this worthwhile for him and we've been ignoring that we're so focused on  what we need him to do for us we forget that his   investment is the big one i mean if this world  disappears would i care it's not my problem it's   his world he cares so again we've put ourselves in  such a needy position in our relationship with god   that it has become a one-way relationship  which is no relationship at all when we serve god we're literally giving him  something that he can get only from us otherwise   it's not a service you want god to help you  to save you to protect you to bless you to   and that's called serving him it's so self-serving it's not it's not nice it's like a bad marriage so what we need to do is realize that we  are here on a mission to fulfill his plan   what he needs from this world from us so we are needed not needy everything we do is part of his plan why do  i have to go to work i don't know that's how   he set it up you want to call it a curse whatever   but i didn't do this why do i even need to  eat three times a day i want to quit i can't   why because it was never my idea in the  first place god needs me to consume food it was his design so instead of feeling so needy and  constantly making demands of god   give me help me teach me show  me love me it's narcissistic we have to become a little more noble than that  a little bit you wake up in the morning what can   i do for god's world what does god need from me  because i am needed i really have not many needs because i didn't ask for this so why  do i need to eat i didn't ask   to be born it's an interesting thing that's  happening now it's like the cutting edge of people are no longer threatened by death the way they used to be like teenagers you say don't don't mess  with drugs dangerous they say yeah so   like what well it might kill  you yeah what's your point   in the olden days that enough said  you got to get up and plow the field   back breaking work and you got to milk the cow 4  o'clock in the morning or you're going to die oh   that's it right need what was what is the  expression need as the mother of all invention   we were driven by need well something  happened in the last couple of years and   people are saying you know what i don't care i  can't live my entire life so that i don't die   it doesn't make sense so you better tell me  something more meaningful than oh you're gonna die   where does that apathy come from it's not apathy  i i think we're getting closer to the truth because that has been the reality you must  live why because otherwise you'll die that   is not a logical argument you have  to live so that you live and not die   no so when we ask what is the purpose of life  we're not depressed we haven't given up on life   we're just saying there's got to  be more to this than just not dying so all of a sudden there's a there's a  certain wisdom that is dawning on the world i am not needy because i don't need any of this  and you can't threaten me with death because why must i be alive why i like it i'm fine i'm not suicidal but why now we need to come up with some answers  and that's why people are turning to judaism   judaism is the only source for information  that makes this world significant to god because most religions no this world is just a  pain you know get through it quickly with as few   scars as possible and go to a better world uh  that doesn't help make life here but any better   judaism is a living godliness not a heavenly one it doesn't dismiss  this world in favor of paradise and that's why   jews don't really want to go to pa and we don't go  to heaven oh can't you just wait you can't wait to   get to heaven oh i can wait i can wait as long as  i have no interest in going to heaven what's there in heaven when you die which you shouldn't  but when you do in heaven you are   pampered you're retired you did your job you're  a good boy here enjoy we don't want we don't want   to be retired we want to be productive we want to  be active we want to be contributing to god's plan so the message of judaism go back to  your question the message of judaism is   don't go to heaven don't even think about  heaven bring god here don't go there and all the souls that are in heaven they're  miserable because they can't wait to come back here's where all the action is  and there is no better place is there a book that you have not written  that you recommend to people to read people   are always looking to hear what inspires  and interests our guests is there a book   whether related to finance or not that you  recommend to people a good book on life um   towards a meaningful life oh it's called towards  a meaningful life okay we'll put that in the show   notes people who do have follow-up questions for  you i'm assuming there will be many is there a   good way to reach out to you a website an email  address if they google your name i'm sure they'll   be able to find you the best way is to go to it's  good to know that org it's good to know that org   do you receive quite a bit of uh communication  it's good to know yes it's good to know it's good   to know.org wonderful well thank you so much for  joining us Rav Manus Friedman looking forward to   having you back again soon and we appreciate your  time pleasure thank you thank you for watching   another episode of kosher money talking about  kosher and money you know it's free what is   subscribing to this youtube 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